Tsuga canadensis collected

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The second blurry photo is one year ago and the first was a few days ago. I did clean up some of the wound over the winter, removing dead bark and some of the dark paste for a more natural look. I am leaning towards letting the callous go for now. I figure once it is covered up I can re-approach and carve again later if it is too ugly looking. For now I need to keep an eye on the wire to make sure it doesn’t bite in. And rumor has it there is a late birthday present of a Sara Rayner pot coming my way that might be a new home for this one.B1BE3C03-2F7F-495F-9C7E-F39475460213.jpegFF4AD385-D077-45FA-9CFC-0FCFA6BC407C.png
 
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Here is an attempted profile shot of the wound.. in retrospect, I should have gone more concave, but it’s not too grotesque, right?3AF535C3-B712-4B96-B98D-FDC055FA20CC.jpeg
 

ABCarve

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Maybe I’m confused,but won’t you be cutting that off with the sacrifice. The branch beside it looks like it is wired up to form the new apex. As for it being grotesque, “grotesque is as grotesque does”. You choose what that means. My large hemlock has a big bump on the trunk. It’s from my attempt to create a chari on it before I knew how quickly they healed. I think it looks like a burl that has formed and adds to the character of a fairly straight trunk line. Others think not so much.
 

ABCarve

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Does the sacrifice have some special properties that you want to save or is it for sentimental reasons? The only reason I ask is that they are like weeds around here.
 
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Thanks for the input @ABCarve . The sacrifice is below the intended apex, but above the chop. It is possible that I could make the second branch the apex, but not the current intention. I’ll try to get another photo.
And no sentimental attachment. There are few landscape specimen near me to choose from, and if I had a clone it could give me more grafting options. Also none of my seeds came up again this year... I thing the birds have a feast after I sow them in trays.
 
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Even the buds have buds on this one. Now is the annual debate to pinch back or let it ride.
 

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TN_Jim

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got nuthin

the heart says take it back, the mind says it’s rail thin

0 tsuga bonsai experience :cool:
 

MananaP

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Even the buds have buds on this one. Now is the annual debate to pinch back or let it ride.

I am exactly where you are right now - i will wait for the new growth to harden a bit more before i cut back to the silhouette, i already wired the pads last fall where it should be besides the sacrificial branches. The picture was taken early in the spring, all those growth have elongated and lots of buds forming behind.
 

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I am exactly where you are right now - i will wait for the new growth to harden a bit more before i cut back to the silhouette, i already wired the pads last fall where it should be besides the sacrificial branches. The picture was taken early in the spring, all those growth have elongated and lots of buds forming behind.
Nice cascade. Collected? Do you have any early photos?
 

Arnold_K

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Well @MrFancyPlants the wiring-job is done utterly well (imho).

Hm, maybe ...
it could be a problem in future with the very first branches left and right.
I mean they are on a the same height of the trunc.
And since they have such an amount of "green-mass" they will gain alot of material at that point.
Have you ever considered to get rid of one of these?

Do not get me wrong, mate!
Nice tree, nice species, nice design in society with a good freind, who knows what he is doing ...
 
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... the wiring-job is done utterly well (imho).

Hm, maybe ...
it could be a problem in future with the very first branches left and right.
I mean they are on a the same height of the trunc.
And since they have such an amount of "green-mass" they will gain alot of material at that point.
Have you ever considered to get rid of one of these?
Cheers, and thanks for the comments. I’ll pass along the accolades on the wiring work.

I have considered removing one of the first branches, and they are actively contributing to reverse taper, but I enjoy the form of the many branches too much to remove one. There is also a small crossing branch through the middle that every “teacher” that has seen directed to remove or Jin.
I guess I am stubborn, but I think that the branching is more of a feature than the trunk itself, so I think worth preserving branching even if it leads to more reverse taper. Since it was collected from the wild I give the tree more leeway with it’s “given” style (somewhat of a broom). Also, in person the reverse taper is less noticeable than the silhouette that photographs offer.
I will, however, bring up the comment for consideration and the stylist and I can take the tree for a spin on my new turntable, just to make sure there are no other obvious fronts that could work minus a lower branch.
 

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Stop it you're making me want to get out and work on my treeees :)
and wishing I had collected from my dads property. He and his dad collected
about I don't know how many Eastern hemlocks on a farm in the family in Ohio, and planted 50 or more on our property
in the early 50's. 40 years later few were still 6" in diameter and one was probably at least 24".
They were our 3 windbreaks and various other plantings. All about the same age and same competition
so I cant say really why one would not put on girth or height as others nearby did.
I just hated the needles that would stick to my skin when I was doing yard work so I never pursued them for bonsai
later when I picked up own the hobby.
Oak stump.JPG DSC01095.JPG DSC01091.JPG
In this last picture 2 hemlocks shared a common horizontal branch all my life.
I used to swing out over the hill hanging from that branch when they were younger
then grew so close by the time the house sold, there wasn't 5" left between the trees.
Property was run down here as I took these pics the day we sold the house.
Anyway I love your hemlock, and hope it does right by you for life.
 
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View attachment 278691
Stop it you're making me want to get out and work on my treeees :)
and wishing I had collected from my dads property. He and his dad collected
about I don't know how many Eastern hemlocks on a farm in the family in Ohio, and planted 50 or more on our property
in the early 50's. 40 years later few were still 6" in diameter and one was probably at least 24".
They were our 3 windbreaks and various other plantings. All about the same age and same competition
so I cant say really why one would not put on girth or height as others nearby did.
I just hated the needles that would stick to my skin when I was doing yard work so I never pursued them for bonsai
later when I picked up own the hobby.
View attachment 278692 View attachment 278693 View attachment 278694
In this last picture 2 hemlocks shared a common horizontal branch all my life.
I used to swing out over the hill hanging from that branch when they were younger
then grew so close by the time the house sold, there wasn't 5" left between the trees.
Property was run down here as I took these pics the day we sold the house.
Anyway I love your hemlock, and hope it does right by you for life.

Thanks for sharing your experiences with hemlock. One thing I’ve found is that it is hard to draw inspiration from their natural form, in that the large specimen trees are likely in a grove, and the main things noticed about their form from the ground are big trunks and deep shade. Not being able to see the trees for the forest I suppose.
 

Japonicus

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Thanks for sharing your experiences with hemlock. One thing I’ve found is that it is hard to draw inspiration from their natural form, in that the large specimen trees are likely in a grove, and the main things noticed about their form from the ground are big trunks and deep shade. Not being able to see the trees for the forest I suppose.
Or singular very tall girthy specimen.
Obviously perform well in a variety of light but acidic is a common denominator
in a natural setting it appears to me, roots covered in compost and leaves, not a hot root zone.

The ? in the edited picture above, I’m asking if this is the sacrifice?
Looks very promising, though I know the foliage won’t look like that
at the apex immediately upon severance.
 
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Or singular very tall girthy specimen.
Obviously perform well in a variety of light but acidic is a common denominator
in a natural setting it appears to me, roots covered in compost and leaves, not a hot root zone.

The ? in the edited picture above, I’m asking if this is the sacrifice?
Looks very promising, though I know the foliage won’t look like that
at the apex immediately upon severance.
Ah, yes, definitely a sacrifice.. check out some of the photos earlier in the thread. I may try to air-layer this year.
The foliage would be the same after removal, but the apical branch is the one on the left so you may have edited a bit too far down.
 

Maloghurst

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just read through this thread. Good info in here.
The last styling was definitely a huge improvement.
I did this virt for my own curiosity and it could work. You seem to have a lot of branching on the left side. Plenty to rearrange and bring down to back fill the missing branch. Maybe a Jin with the removed branch?
93F9AB44-2E06-43E5-9089-6BD10CB3E3F1.jpeg
 

Japonicus

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but the apical branch is the one on the left so you may have edited a bit too far down.
I was shooting for right branch to become the apex with that edit
which is taper inducive, and creates an interesting upper line.
This would require the lower branches of the apex to be rebuilt in time I think
from adjacent branch, as it probably would remove some of those fine branches
currently in place with the edit and possibly hollowing the scar IDK.
 
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